Method for drying substrates

ABSTRACT

In a method for drying substrates, in particular, semiconductor wafers, an especially residue-free drying of the substrates results when, during removal of the substrates from a liquid, a meniscus of the liquid forming at the transition between the substrate surface and the liquid surface is heated. A device for performing the method is disclosed.

This application is divisional application of Ser. No. 09/114,420, filed Jul. 10, 1998 which is a continuation-in-part application of International Application PCT/EP97/01537 with an international filing date of Mar. 26, 1997.

The specification incorporates by reference the entire disclosure of the parent application Ser. No. 09/114,420.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for drying substrates.

European patent application 0 385 536 discloses a method and device for drying substrates after treatment in a liquid. According to the method known from this printed document, substrates are treated for a period of time in a bath that contains a liquid and are then removed so slowly that practically the entire liquid remains within the bath. In so doing, the substrates are brought directly from the liquid into contact with a vapor. The vapor does not condense on the substrate and mixes with the liquid whereby the mixture has a lower surface tension than the liquid. This method, however, is very complicated in practice because vapor is required and must be removed, and, in particular, supply lines and exhaust nozzles for the vapor must be made available.

From U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,752 a device and a method for cleaning and drying of disc-shaped substrates, for example, semiconductor wafers, is known in which the heat energy remaining in the substrates is used to generate a surface tension gradient. External heat is not supplied for improving or accelerating the drying process.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,350 shows and discloses a device and a method for cleaning and drying substrates whereby at the surface of the liquid energy in the form ultrasound is supplied to the substrate upon removal. The supplied energy however does not serve for drying but for cleaning.

The washing and drying method known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,649 for mechanical or electronic components as well as lenses employs for improvement of the drying method a liquid which is maintained at a pressure that is above atmospheric pressure. The rinsing liquid is heated above the boiling point defined at atmospheric pressure. For the drying process, the workpiece is introduced into a drying chamber in which a sudden decompression takes place so that the rinsing liquid on the workpiece evaporates quickly.

The invention has the object to provide a method in which the substrates during removal from the fluid bath can be dried quickly, at minimal expenditure, without impacting the environment, and without residues forming on the substrates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive objective is realized with a method of the aforementioned kind in that during withdrawal of the substrate from the liquid, a liquid meniscus that is formed at the transition between the substrate surface and the liquid surface is heated.

One advantage of the present invention is that with the inventive process the substrate is very rapidly dried, without great technical expenditure, such drying being very thorough and without mechanical stressing during the withdrawal of the substrate from the liquid bath.

Pursuant to one specific embodiment of the invention, electromagnetic radiation is used for heating the meniscus of the liquid. Such radiation has the advantage that it can be generated very easily, passes through certain materials, such as a hood over the liquid bath, and can be very easily focused upon the meniscus of the liquid.

The electromagnetic radiation preferably comprises microwaves, infrared radiation, and/or visible radiation.

According to a very advantageous embodiment the meniscus is heated by a gas whereby a heat exchange from the gas onto the meniscus takes place. This provides for a simple, efficient heating of the meniscus whereby, preferably, at least one hot gas stream is generated and directed onto the meniscus and/or the meniscus is surrounded by a hot gas that heats the meniscus. In the latter case, convection of the gas is advantageous. The local heating of the meniscus effects a reduction of the surface tension within the curved meniscus area that forms upon removal of the substrate between the substrate surface and the surface of the liquid. In this manner, the liquid present within the meniscus, respectively, adhering to the substrate surface, is moved away from the meniscus, respectively, away from the substrate surface so that the substrate can be quickly and reliably freed of the liquid and dried substantially without additional measures during lifting from the liquid. The use of hot gas as an energy transmitting medium for heating the meniscus provides an especially simple and advantageous possibility for heating the meniscus.

For heating the meniscus of the liquid, hot nitrogen is advantageously used that is guided to the liquid surface such that the liquid in the area of the meniscus experiences a greater temperature increase then the liquid area outside of the meniscus. In doing so, the gas may be stationary as well as in the form of a gas flow. The gas is preferably introduced via a hood that can be placed above the liquid.

It should be noted that heating, in general, refers to a heating of the meniscus relative to the other areas of the liquid whereby these temperature differences can be optionally small and even within the magnitude of less than 1° C.

Preferably, the heating gas is an inert gas in order to avoid reactions of or chemical effects on the substrates caused by the gas. As a heating gas nitrogen is advantageous, but noble gases are also well suited. The gases are preferably not miscible with the liquid.

According to one very advantageous embodiment of the invention, a gas is employed that reduces the surface tension of the liquid from which the substrates are removed. This effect, known as the Marangoni effect, contributes additionally to an excellent and fast drying of the substrates. Preferably, the gas for reducing the surface tension of the liquid is nitrogen, isopropyl alcohol, or a gas mixture containing at least one of theses gases. The gas for reducing the surface tension of the liquid is preferably also used as the heating gas for heating the meniscus. The heating gas is directed onto the meniscus advantageously via a hood which can be placed above the liquid container from which the substrates are to be removed. Examples for introducing the gas via a hood are disclosed in conjunction with introduction of gases for reducing the surface tension of the liquid in German patent application 44 15 077, assigned to the assignee of the instant application.

According to an alternative or additional method variation, the object of the invention is also solved in that the meniscus is heated by the substrate that contacts the meniscus, whereby the substrate or substrates before and/or during removal from the liquid are heated. The heating of the meniscus by the substrate, which is brought to a temperature greater than the temperature of the liquid, provides a further very advantageous solution to the inventive object.

In connection with the heating of the meniscus by the heated substrate, it is especially advantageous when before and/or simultaneous to the heating of the meniscus a vapor or gas, that mixes with the liquid of the meniscus, is brought into contact with the meniscus. In this manner, it is possible to additionally decrease the reduction of surface tension, resulting from heating of the meniscus, by the Marangoni effect and to thus improve and accelerate drying.

The inventive object is also solved in regard to a device for drying of substrates with an energy source for heating a meniscus, which forms upon removal of the substrates from the liquid at the transition between the substrate surface and the liquid surface, in that the energy source is a hot gas that surrounds the meniscus or flows onto the meniscus. In the first case, the device has a heating device that heats the gas surrounding the meniscus. As an example of such a heating device, infrared or ultrasonic energy sources are advantageous, but also eddy current heaters.

A further solution of the inventive object, as an alternative or in addition to the aforementioned devices, is that the energy source for heating the meniscus is the substrate itself which during removal of the substrates is warmer than the meniscus. The substrate is preferably heated before and/or during removal from the liquid.

Preferably, the inventive methods and devices are employed in connection with drying of semiconductor wafers, whereby the efficiency of the drying process and its reliability are improved and the drying period is decreased so that the productivity of the inventive method and of the inventive device is increased.

Pursuant to a further preferred specific embodiment of the invention, when the substrates are withdrawn from the liquid bath they are brought into direct contact with a vapor that does not condense upon the substrate and contains a substance that is miscible with the liquid and, when it is mixed with the liquid, results in a mixture that has a lower surface tension than does the liquid. As a consequence of the combination of the inventive method with the method known from the aforementioned European patent application 0 385 536, there results for particular applications an additional improvement and acceleration of the drying of the substrates.

The substrates are advantageously lifted and lowered by a blade-like lifting mechanism. The blade-like lifting mechanism carries the substrates, when they are raised out of the liquid, and in particular at those locations of the substrate that are the last to leave the liquid. Drops of the liquid then flow off the substrate over the blade-like edge of the blade-like lifting mechanism, so that when the substrate leaves the liquid bath, at which point a meniscus is no longer defined, the drying process can continue at the same efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, as well as further advantages and embodiments thereof, will be explained subsequently in conjunction with schematic illustrations of the inventive process. It is shown in:

FIG. 1 an embodiment in which the meniscus is heated by an energy beam;

FIG. 2 an embodiment in which the meniscus is heated by a gas.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention will now be described in more detail with the aid of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view for illustrating the inventive drying process. A substrate 1, which is preferably a semiconductor wafer, is raised out of the liquid or fluid bath 2 in the direction of the arrow A. For this purpose, for example, a (non-illustrated) blade-like lifting mechanism can be provided. A liquid surface 3 of the liquid bath 2 has a region 4 in which the liquid surface 3 is planar. In region 5, the liquid surface 3 is curved, i.e., a meniscus of the liquid surface 3 results because the liquid clings to the semiconductor wafer 1 due to adhesion forces. This is the case because the liquid wets the surface of the substrate 1, since the attractive forces of the substrate acting upon the liquid molecules are greater than the attractive forces of the liquid molecules for one another.

A schematically illustrated energy source 6, which is preferably a laser or a device for generating microwaves, for example, a klystron, is provided in order to locally heat the meniscus portion 5 of the liquid surface 3 by means of a focusing mechanism 7, which is, for example, a converging lens. As a consequence of a localized heating in the region of the meniscus, the surface tension in the curved meniscus region 5, which borders the wafer 1, is reduced relative to the planar region 4 of the liquid surface 3, which is remote from the substrate 1. Due to the different surface tensions, there results a drifting or flowing of liquid away from the meniscus 5 to the portion 4 of the liquid surface 3, i.e., away from the substrate 1. As a consequence, the liquid is completely and rapidly withdrawn from the substrate 1. As a result, the substrate 1 can be rapidly dried without further measures and without residue.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the substrate 1, which is, for example, a semiconductor wafer, is lifted with a substrate lifting and lowering device 8 from the liquid 2 in the direction of arrow A. At the transition between the liquid 2 and the substrate surfaces 9 and 10, respectively, a meniscus 11 will form upon lifting of the substrate 1 from the liquid because the liquid wets the substrate surfaces 9, 10 and because the attractive forces exerted by the substrate surface onto the liquid molecules are greater than the forces between the liquid molecules.

At least in the area about the meniscus 11 a gas 12 is present having a temperature that is greater than the temperature of the liquid 2. Thus, the meniscus 11 is heated at least at its surface so that the surface tension within the curved meniscus area 11 bordering the substrate is reduced in comparison to that of the liquid 2. The differing surface tensions effect a flow of the liquid away from the substrate 1 because the liquid molecules among themselves have a greater attractive force in comparison to the attractive force between the liquid and the substrate surfaces 9, 10 when the meniscus area 11 is heated by the surrounding gas 12. In this manner, a substantially improved, more complete, and faster drying of the substrate 1 is possible.

The gas 12 surrounding the meniscus 11 is preferably heated at this location by a suitable energy supply, for example, by an eddy current heater. The gas then transfers its heat energy onto the meniscus 11.

According to an alternative or additional embodiment of the invention it is also possible to direct a stream of heated gas onto the meniscus in order to achieve a directed and local heating of the meniscus 11. Alternatively, the effect of reducing the surface tension of the substrate surfaces 9, 10, respectively, a heating of the meniscus 11 can also be achieved by heating the substrate 1 at least in the area of the forming meniscus 11, for example, in that at least a portion of the substrate 1, before and/or during removal, is subjected to ultrasound for the purpose of heating.

The invention has been explained with the aid of a preferred embodiment. However, a person skilled in the art will find developments and further variations without deviating from the gist of the invention. For example, during removal of the substrates from the liquid bath, the substrates can be directly contacted with vapor which does not condense on the substrate and which contains a substance which is miscible with the liquid and, when mixed with the liquid, results in a mixture that has a reduced surface tension in comparison to the liquid itself. By combining the inventive method with the aforementioned method known from the aforementioned European patent application 0 385 536 in certain applications an additional improvement and acceleration of drying of the substrates will result. According to an advantageous embodiment, the gas 12 used for heating the meniscus 11 can be selected such that it has properties for reducing the surface tension.

Advantageously, the substrates are lifted by a blade-shaped lifting device. The blade-shaped lifting device supports substrates when they are lifted from the liquid in particular at locations of the substrates which leave the liquid last. Drops of the liquid then flow via the blade-shaped edge of the blade-shaped lifting device away from the substrate so that, when the substrate exits from the liquid bath and a meniscus is no longer defined, the drying process can be continued with the same efficiency. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of drying substrates comprising the steps of removing the substrates from a liquid and heating only a meniscus of the liquid forming during removal at the transition between the substrate surface and the liquid surface to thereby lower a surface tension of the liquid of the meniscus while the liquid in a region adjacent to the meniscus is not heated.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of heating includes irradiating the meniscus.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein irradiating includes focusing the radiation on the meniscus.
 4. A method according to claim 2, wherein irradiating is effected by electromagnetic radiation.
 5. A method according to claim 2, wherein irradiating is effected by microwaves.
 6. A method according to claim 2, wherein irradiating is effected by infrared radiation.
 7. A method according to claim 2, wherein irradiating is effected by light.
 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the light is in the visible wave length range.
 9. A method according to claim 2, wherein irradiating is effected by a laser beam.
 10. A method according to claim 1, wherein heating is effected by a gas.
 11. A method according to claim 10, wherein at least one hot gas stream is directed onto the meniscus.
 12. A method according to claim 10, wherein heating includes surrounding the meniscus by a hot gas.
 13. A method according to claim 10, wherein heating is effected by convection of the gas present as a stationary medium.
 14. A method according to claim 10, including the step of supplying the gas to the meniscus via a hood which can be brought into a position above the liquid container from which the substrates are removed.
 15. A method according to claim 10, wherein the step of heating includes heating the gas surrounding the meniscus.
 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the gas is heated by infrared radiation.
 17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the infrared radiation is generated by a heating element positioned in the vicinity of the meniscus.
 18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the heating element is an electrical heating wire.
 19. A method according to claim 14, wherein the gas is an inert gas.
 20. A method according to claim 14, wherein the gas comprises at least one of nitrogen gas and a noble gas.
 21. A method according to claim 14, wherein the gas is immiscible with the liquid.
 22. A method according to claim 14, wherein the gas reduces the surface tension of the liquid from which the substrates are removed.
 23. A method according to claim 1, further including the step of contacting a gas with the meniscus, wherein the gas mixes with the liquid of the meniscus, wherein the step of contacting is carried out before and/or simultaneously to heating of the meniscus.
 24. A method according to claim 23, wherein the gas consists of nitrogen, isopropyl alcohol or a gas mixture containing at least one of nitrogen and isopropyl alcohol.
 25. A method according to claim 23, including the step of supplying the gas to the meniscus via a hood which can be brought into a position above the liquid container from which the substrates are removed.
 26. A method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of removing a blade-like lifting mechanism is used.
 27. A method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is a rinsing fluid.
 28. A method according to claim 27, wherein the rinsing fluid is water.
 29. A method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a semiconductor wafer.
 30. A method for drying substrates, said method comprising the steps of removing a substrate from a liquid, wherein a meniscus forms at the transition between the substrates surfaces and the liquid during removal of the substrates from the liquid, and heating only the meniscus by the substrate contacting it to thereby lower a surface tension of the liquid of the meniscus while the liquid in a region adjacent to the meniscus is not heated.
 31. A method according to claim 30, wherein the substrate is heated before and/or during removal. 